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Thread: Question About Fills

  1. #1

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    Question Question About Fills

    I'm getting really frustrated with myself because I don't have too many fills when I play to songs. This is really killing me right now. Sometimes I just get frustrated and stop playing all together.
    For those of you guys that have an endless amount of fills or enough to not get people bored, how did you get all of those fills???
    Did you get by listening to a lot of songs?
    Do you have any practice routines for fills?

    Any advice would be much appreciated.
    Thanks
    http://www.youtube.com/user/UrFunny767

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  2. #2

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    Default Re: Question About Fills

    I cheat and use drum tab for ideas when I have none. F/T

  3. #3

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    i feel your pain, nik. same thing happens to me all the time. except i think of these awesome fills just as i'm laying in bed falling asleep, but in the morning when i try them out i always forget them. i need to start keeping a pad of paper beside my bed at all times.
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  4. #4

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    Default Re: Question About Fills

    I just kinda flo wid it. Don't think about it too much. If you overthink fills you will screw them up. Just play something that fits, even if it's simple. Eventually, you'll learn to feel what fill fits where, and you will learn more complex fills.
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  5. #5

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    Default Re: Question About Fills

    Simple, dont do as many fills.

  6. #6

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    Default Re: Question About Fills

    Like NorhternRedneck said, don't do as many. I wanted to put fills into all of my lessons my instructor would give me, the fills were not apart of the lesson plan, I would struggle trying to find the right one. Obsessed. Then I started playing along to music and found that there were not that many big fills in the music I listen to. Most of them were short and easy but the way they were played and the timing of them made them sound great. Just my.02 good luck.

  7. #7

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    Default Re: Question About Fills

    Work on playing the fills you have "backwards". If the fill runs high to low, turn it around and play it low to high. After a while you should be able to switch directions mid fill. It will add a lot of different tones with the same fills.
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  8. #8

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    Default Re: Question About Fills

    Rudiments and accent studies might help here.
    - Zack

  9. #9

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    Wink Re: Question About Fills

    Quote Originally Posted by Nik276 View Post
    I'm getting really frustrated with myself because I don't have too many fills when I play to songs. This is really killing me right now. Sometimes I just get frustrated and stop playing all together.
    For those of you guys that have an endless amount of fills or enough to not get people bored, how did you get all of those fills???
    Did you get by listening to a lot of songs?
    Do you have any practice routines for fills?

    Any advice would be much appreciated.
    Thanks
    I usually stick in some kind of fill about every four bars. And some add-in (like two snare hits, or a crash) every two. Also, when a song changes, (like bridge to chorus, chorus to outro.)

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by xweasel View Post
    Rudiments and accent studies might help here.
    I agree we this. I found that different stickings, rudiments, dynamics/accents can make for much more interesting fills. Personally though when I'm playing I don't make a concious effort to 'learn' fills, I just sort of do them. I feel like if I learned a fill a day or something for a year and had 365 fills, I'd just forget most of them, so I prefer to just listen to songs and play along and make up fills as I go along. Similarly I don't learn songs note for note, I'll just play along and try and master that style of playing
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  11. #11

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    Default Re: Question About Fills

    I can't agree with the "play less fills" thing. Your question was how to learn more diverse fills, not how to avoid them.
    I would listen to and copy fills from as many different drummers as you care to listen to. As you learn other guys ideas and stickings and patterns and such, your own style and vocabulary will start to show over tiime.
    You won't develope a lot of different fills quickly. As with anything else, you have to put the time in. You might start with simpler drummers like Ringo Starr or Nick Mason (of Pink Floyd. I understand there is a younger Nick Mason making a name for hiimself.) and then move on to more complex stuff. It depends on what your genre of music is and where you want your drumming to go.
    Just don't ever give up. You never know when a break-through is around the corner.
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  12. #12

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    Default Re: Question About Fills

    thanks a lot guys
    http://www.youtube.com/user/UrFunny767

    Drums:
    Pearl Vision Birch
    22x18 Kick
    Pearl Sensitone Steel Snare 14x5.5
    12x9,13x10,16x16 Toms

    Cymbals:
    Zildjian A Custom 16in Crash
    Sabian XS20 16in Medium Thin Crash
    Zildjian A Armand 10in Splash
    Wuhan 16in China
    Zildjian ZBT 14in Hats (I hate it)
    Zildjian ZBT 20in Ride (I hate it)

    Hardware:
    Pearl Eliminator Demon Drive Single Kick Pedal
    Crappy PDP Cymbal Stands

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